Olympic Park moves on athlete housing

The Snyderville Basin Planning Commission will be taking public input on several items next Tuesday, including the potential construction of a 60-unit condominium complex at the Newpark Town Center and a relocation of athlete housing at the Utah Olympic Park.

According to Summit County planner Amir Caus, the condominiums would be "high-end town homes" that would be located on top of the Newpark parking structure across from Best Buy. The 60 units would occupy 72,647 square feet of residential density and the maximum height would be 52 feet.

Of the 819,000 square feet available at the Newpark Town Center, Caus said there would be 76,000 square feet of remaining density after the condominiums are approved. The Planning Department staff members overseeing the proposal has sent a positive recommendation, but will wait to see what public input and the Planning Commission say regarding the condos.

Athlete housing

A recent land exchange between the Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District and the Utah Athletic Foundation could prove to be a mutually beneficial agreement for both parties.

As part of the land exchange, the UAF has agreed to deed Basin Recreation and Summit County 11.31 acres in return for 5.22 acres.

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The impetus for the exchange came about when the UAF proposed a housing complex for athletes on a saddle next to the Utah Olympic Park’s Day Lodge. The Snyderville Basin Planning Commission rejected the proposal, stating it was too visible in the State Road 224 view corridor.

"The area where we are swapping out property is a spot right below the ski jump and close to the entry road, notched in against the hill," Hilton said. "The new location for housing is closer to the services of Kimball Junction."

The 11-acre parcel that Basin Recreation will be receiving will allow them to complete a trail connection near Bear Hollow for the Millennium Trail that has been one of the district’s priorities. The land parcel, according to a Basin Recreation staff report, is undeveloped and would be difficult to build structures on regardless.

Basin Recreation Planning and Project Manager Will Pratt explained how the exchange is mutually beneficial.

"For the Utah Olympic Park, they can take a move on their long-planned housing. This provides a better opportunity to do that in a more appropriate location," Pratt said. "It’s beneficial to Basin Recreation because we can put in a trail connection that would be beneficial to residents in the areas of Silver Springs and Bear Hollow."

Hilton said the UAF hopes to add a multitude of additional facilities at the Utah Olympic Park during the next 20 years, with much of the future development focused on athlete support services including sports medicine, indoor weight training and gymnasium spaces. He also envisions additional meeting and conference facilities being constructed, providing space for what he said can be 200 to 1,000-person meetings.

"This particular land exchange is allowing us to provide a mutually beneficial location to provide what I believe is a very good service for visiting athletes to our community to have access to relatively inexpensive housing," Hilton said.

The Snyderville Basin Planning Commission will be holding public hearings for each of these proposals on Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m. at the Sheldon Richins Building, 1885 W. Ute Blvd. in Park City. For more information on the proposals, contact Amir Caus at 435-336-3117 or acaus@summitcounty.org.